Made $650 On The Junk Car

Earlier, on one of my recent car-whining post about my old Nissan, a reader (Chris) left this comment:

Don’t tow it to a junkyard – donate it. There are lots of charities that’ll want it, even if it’s not running. They’ll come tow it away and initiate all of the paperwork on your behalf. A “junker” will be auctioned to a junker lot, and you will receive a tax receipt for the proceeds. It likely won’t be much, but it’d be more than simply towing it to a junk yard (many of which will charge you for the tow).

At that time, I liked the idea of donating it to charity and did research on the subject. Here are a few (of many) sources you can approach to have your car donated:

Junk-Yard.org

• Car condition: It’s ok if the car is totalled and/or not working, but it should have all the major components - for example, cars without engine will not be towed.
• Towing costs: Free
• Tax Deductible Donation: Yes
• Service availability: Nationwide
• Phone number: 1-888-511-5865

Teddy Bear Cops

• Car condition: You need to get in touch with them through this form and make sure they are ready to pick up your car.
• Towing costs: Free
• Tax Deductible Donation: Yes
• Service availability: Does not pick up in Mississippi, Florida and Iowa.
• Phone number: Not listed

Kars 4 Kids

• Car condition: Working or not working. However, there is a small clause on the website that says “exceptions include older cars whose value would not offset the cost of towing”. So call them up and see if they would be interested in your car.
• Towing costs: Free
• Tax Deductible Donation: Yes
• Service availability: Nationwide
• Phone number: 1-877-527-7454

Then there are others that tow your car for free but do not give you any compensation for the value of the car. Here is an example.

Junk My Car

• Car condition: It’s ok if the car is totalled and/or not working. They will accept it even if it’s missing some major components.
• Towing costs: Free
• Tax Deductible Donation: No
• Service availability: Nationwide
• Phone number: 1-877-586-5692

You MUST provide all these guys with a valid ownership title for your car - otherwise they won’t pick it up. So if you are thinking about making money by having your neighbor’s junker towed away, it’s not going to work.

Anyways, after going through all the information, I thought over donating my car, but didn’t have the patience to wait till the next tax season to get the benefits (nor the patience to wait until someone decided whether my car is worth towing or not). So, I called up a few junk yards in our area to see what they can do and one of them (which operates along the lines of this organization) offered $650 (to be paid on-the-spot) for my car … plus free towing! The sound of the quick $650 made me give up (sadly) any noble thoughts of donating the car to charity.

The deal was pretty sweet because I was not *expecting* anything for the car and just wanted someone to tow it away for free. The amount they paid me was in spite of the fact that the Nissan had a salvage-rebuilt title, had really *bad* paint on it, had suffered some damage on the trunk lid and rear bumper, and was hardly working (the engine cranked to life, but it wouldn’t run for more than 2 minutes at a stretch; the only other things that worked were the headlights and the brakes). I had earlier estimated the market price of the car between $1800 to $2000 - but I had appraised it as a clean vehicle (with a clean title) at that time. With the kind of repairs it was needing, and with it’s salvage title, I think $650 was a fair price to get for it.

I am not sure what will happen to that car after this, but from what I was told, it will be dismantled and the individual components will be sold to interested parties - people who rebuild salvaged vehicles. I just hope they don’t *repair* that car and sell it to some unsuspecting poor guy (without disclosing the vehicle history).

So, if you want to get rid of the junk car, and are more interested in the monetary aspect than the charity aspect, I suggest you spend a few minutes on the phone and the internet and locate a few junk yards in your area. If they won’t buy your car, at least they will lead you to people who might be interested. Btw, you can try this option even if your car is in working condition; you could probably get more money this way than what you will get if you trade it in for a newer car.